Method of and means for manufacturing embossed or intaglio name and number plates



Sept. lo, 1929. D, v R|$T 1,727,520

METHOD OF AND N OR MANUFACTURIN MBOSSED OR INTAG NAME AND NUMBER PL S Filed April 12, 1927 will l venfor ,afl/Iasi Patented Sept. l0; i929.

narran srA'res rArnJNT oFFicE.

DAVID ALBERT VCTOR RIST, OF OTJL'IION` BROAD, NORFOLK, ENGLAND.

METHOD or ANDI MEANS ForJ MANUFACTURING niviossnn on INTAGLIO NAME AND NUMBER spawns. t

Application filed April 153, 1927, Serial No. 183,222, andy Great `Britain 'December 1926.

.lhis invention relates to the manuufacture by a stamping operation of embossed or intaglio metal plates, which have an appearance similar to that produced by an or- 5 dinary engraving or milling machine..

y @ne objectof the'present invention is to provide an improved method of and means for manufacturing embossed or intaglio metal plates whereby the 'device to be produced can be raised above the surface of the metal-` plate without danger of entirely severing or unduly weakening the connection bet-ween the raisedy portion and the plate. l y

A further object of the invention is to ensure that, when very high relief for example'4 is not required, the metal forming the connection between the raised portion and the plate shall be consolidated and strength` cned by compression. `It is also contemplated to produce a raised device on a metal plate such that thes'ides of the device are substantially vertical relatively to the plate but are merged into the raised surface of 1 the said device at the upper edges thereof.

illccording to this invention the male portion of the die is rso dimensioned relatively to the female portion or counterpart that, upon the `application of sufficient pressure. the male portion of the die will ypush the metal bodily with ra semi-shearing action into the counterpart .whereby thel device, either embossedorintaglio, will be formed with vertical sides. l

ln this respect my invention differs from previ-ous methods of ymanufacture where dies have been employed, such dies having been Lfashioned usually of such relative size that a drawing instead of a shearing action resulted. n f f y According to one form of the invention the male portion of the diejis madefslightly larger than the recess in the female portion or counterpart. l .f

The sides of the device upon the dies are made perfectly vertical with lrespect tothe surface thereofy and upon insertion `of a metal plate of the requiredthickness and l "theI application@ of sufficient pressurej the W tonde portion of the `die *will force the metal bodily' againstthe female portion or counterpart..

Owing to the 'factthat the recess of the female portion is of lesser cross-sectional area than the projection of the male portion of the die, there results afcompre'ssion of the metal around thev edges of thesaid recess. This compressionof they metal permits of the metal forming the raised portion of the device,` which hasalreadyentered the recess of the female portion `of thefdie, be-

ing pushed still further into the said recess. n In order to make theoperation of the in-y vention/quite clear there Will'now bedescribech byy Way of example, the application thereof to the production of ka raised or em;

bossed device upon a metal plate, reference being madeto the accompanying 'draws ing, in kwhich i- Figure lis a'plan vievv of afportion of an n embossed metal yplate produced by the method according *to the'invention, y

Figure 2. is a sect-ion on the line 2-'2 yof Figure l. i Figures 3 land 4 are diagrammatic sections showing the male and female yportions of one form of diel at thecommencement and at the close of the stamping operation respectively, and f y'lligures and 6 are similar views showing another form of die.

In order to produce an embossed device l, on ya metal plate it is obvious that both the male and female portions of the die Will need to be of the appropriate shape. Hence the i female portion Sof thedie is formed with a recess, part of, which is rindicated at .4c in Figures 3 and 4 of the size and shape of the device l to ybe embossed, Whereas the projection of the male portion 5 of the dieis y loo n the co-operating dies 3, 5

or edges at the angles will be perfectly sharp and such as would be produced by an ordinary engraving or milling machine.

When the metal plate 2 is inserted between l and sufficient pressure is applied thereto, it will beevident that the portion of the metal plate registering with the recess 4 of the female portion 3 of the die will be forced or raised into the said recess.

Furthermore, there will be a marginal portion 8 of' metal connecting the embossed portion 7 with the plate 2 which will be compressed between the faces of the female portion 8 of the die and of theprojection 6 of the male portion 5 thereof respectively, owing to the fact that the projection 6 is of larger effective area than the recess 4.

The effect of this compression is to cause the said marginalportion of metal 8 to tend to expand laterally between the two die portions 3 and 5. Now the tendency towards lateral expansion is checked in the outward direction by the comparatively large portion of the metal plate 2 surrounding the raised or embossed portion 7 thereof, whilst the Jendency towards lateral expansion, possessed by the marginal portion 8 under compression, is unchecked in the inward direction owing to thev recess 4: in the female portion of the die.

n Hence the raised portiony 7 of the metal plate 2 is forced stillfurther into the recess 4 by this tendencytowards inward lateral expansion, but, vas the lines at which the shearing action due to thedies takes place on opposite ,sides ofA the `work do notcoincide, there is no danger of severing` the metal completely. f

Obviously the projection 6 of the male portion of the die mustbe less in height than the thickness of the plate being treated otherwise that portion of the metal formingr the device would be pushed completely through and a perforation in the metal plate would result. Y

Itwill be understood that the process of mamifacturing intaglio metal plates only differs from the above in that, inthis case, the projection of the male portion of the die is formed of the same size-and contour as the ,device to be produced, therecess of the female portion .of the` .die being of slightly smaller size than they same. A

In a modification ofthe invention the recess of-the yfemale portion of the die is not formed of sutlicient depth' to allow of the Vmetal beingHV raised therein to the eXtent'indicated above.

. Hence the pressure appliedto the die portions causes the male portion of the'die to force the Ymet-alplate against the female portion and, as before, the portion of the plate 'registering with the recess of the female portion enters the same to form the raised device.

The marginall portion of the metal connecting the embossed or raised portion with the plate is compressed as before, but is unable to expand so that the said connection is consolidated and strengthened.

In a further modification of this invention, in order to produce embossed devices having rounded edges but the sides of which are vertical relatively to the metal plate, the projection of the male portion of the die is made of lesser effective area than the recess of the female portion of the 'die and of lesser depth than the same. Such an arrangement is illustrated in Figures 5 and 6 like parts beingvdesignated by the same reference numerals as in Figures 3 and 4C.

The sides, as before, are vertically disposed relatively to the plate to be embossed and upon applying pressure to such a pair of co-operating die portions, the embossed device is produced with vertical sides merging into the raised surface of the device at the edges thereof.

Y The difference in the effective vdimensions of the two parts of the die may be varied within limits according tothe malleability of the metal plate, and in some cases this difference may be as small as mth of an inch. In the diagrams a substantial difference in the effective dimensions of the two parts of the die is indicated for the sake of clearness. l

The y plates produced by the method and means forming the subject ymatter of this invention are applicable. to various uses as, for example, signs, name-plates, numberplates, identification plates for vehicles, etc.

1. A method of manufacturing embossed or intaglio metal plates by means of a stamping operationcomprising arranging a metal plate between male and female die portionsof different effective areas, the side edges of the male and female portions being perpendicular to the plane of the face of the work, and applying pressure to one of said die portions sufficient to cause the male portion of the die to push the metal registering therewith` bodilyy with asemi-shearing action into the like female portion of the die, whereby either an embossed or an intaglio figure isformed upon thel plate, the ligure having side edges perpendicular to the side edges Vof the plate such as would be produced in an ordinary engraving or milling machine.

2. In a method of Vmanufacturing embossed or intaglio metal plates as claimed in claim l, the use of ai die having male and female portions wherein the male portion has a larger effective area than the female portion or counterpart and the side edges of the figure defined'by each of the said male and female portions are perpendicular to the plane of the Work.

3. A method of manufacturing embossed or intaglio metal plates by stamping comprising disposing the metal plate between dies having male and female die portions and having different effective areas, the female die portion being less in depth than the thickness of the metal to be embossed and the male portion having a projection less in depth than the metal to be embossed, and applying pressure to one of said dies sufficient to bring the faces of the dies outward of the male and female portions into contact with the opposite faces of the Work to there* :by cause the material at the junction of the embossed portion With the body of the plate to be compressed to a greater degree than the remainder of the plate. In testimony whereof he has aixed his signature.

DAVID ALBERT VICTOR BIST. 

